New Trier football returned to Mike McGraw's Chicago Tribune top 25 for the first time this season, landing at No. 25 after a 35-28 win over Glenbrook South on Oct. 9.

The Trevians also climbed to No. 21 in the Sun-Times Super 25. At 7-1, they have reached seven wins for the first time since 2018. In the three seasons from 2022 through 2024, the program totaled nine wins combined, according to The Record North Shore.

Senior quarterback Jackie Ryder, a 6-foot-5 Purdue commit, is the engine behind the turnaround. Against Glenbrook South, Ryder completed 12 of 15 passes for 210 yards and four touchdowns, three of them from 25 yards or longer. He also rushed for a score on his senior night at Robert Naughton Field on the Northfield campus.

"It's just crazy where we were a year ago to where we are now; it's a complete 180," Ryder told The Record after the game.

One year earlier, New Trier sat at 5-3 and absorbed a 45-0 loss to the same Glenbrook South team.

Head coach Brian Doll, who has led the Trevians since 2014, called the Oct. 9 victory one of the most meaningful wins of his tenure. He said he believes the team has more to give.

Now the stage gets bigger. New Trier (7-1, 2-0 Central Suburban League South) faces rival Evanston (5-3, 0-2 CSL South) on Friday, Oct. 16, at Northwestern University's rebuilt Ryan Field. Kickoff is 7 p.m. It will be the first high school football game played at the $870 million stadium, which seats 35,000. New Trier's home field on the Northfield campus holds roughly 3,000.

Ticket demand matched the occasion. More than 19,000 tickets sold within days of going on sale Oct. 10, according to The Record. New Trier athletic director Augie Fontanetta told The Record that school officials worked with Northwestern to open additional stadium sections and release more tickets.

The rivalry dates to 1913. Evanston holds a slim all-time edge at 57-54-6, and the teams have split the last four meetings. A New Trier win would give the program eight regular-season victories for the first time since 2016 and position the Trevians for a favorable IHSA playoff seed, including a likely first-round bye and home playoff game.

The IHSA playoff pairings show airs at 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, on WCIU.